Monday, February 08, 2016

Welcome to the Year of the Fire Monkey

Dig it while you can, for the next Year of the Fire Monkey begins on February 5, 2076. These are some of the photos I took yesterday inside a cool Vietnamese oasis in North Texas. Here, sustenance is offered to ancestor spirits and the gods, presumably. (HTC cellphone shot). 
God (or boddhisattva) in a rocky place overlooking a pool. Women dressed in beautiful silk dresses were praying here, but I didn't want to disturb them in process. (HTC cellphone shot).
Temple complex by front entrance. (Nikon Coolpix L830). This is February!
Shiny cake! Really these are giant candle holders. In the evening (and maybe at other times, too), folks light candles, one for each departed soul among their loved ones. (Nikon Coolpix L830). 
The main complex from fifty paces back. I came across these sacred grounds by chance, synchronicity, fate, kismet, divine guidance or luck of the draw, right on the Eve of the Lunar New Year (Tết), coming back from a Chinese New Year celebration by a new route. Certainly better than getting vaporized by a meteorite, like that poor guy in India. (Nikon Coolpix L830). 

Today's Rune: Harvest. 

2 comments:

jodi said...

Erik-cool pics! Don't you love how reverently they worship and honor the deceased? So cool.

Barbara Bruederlin said...

How lovely! Vietnamese design is at once clean-lined and intricate and very pleasing to the eye. Best of both worlds.